One of the best things about this weekend's Family Farmed Expo was the Rick Bayless demo. We got an easy to make, seasonal recipe, and we got needed advice on where to hide some of the babies.
Bayless spent most of the time on a potato soup. We got to sample, so I can tell you it's good, but he other thing he made, we made last night, a zip, zap zooey of a dish, and I can tell you it's good too. As I keep on reminding people, there is still food very much in season and very much at its seasonal peak. Not many plants take to cold better than spinach. We picked up a bunch from a farmer at the Expo. Rick told us what to do with it. Make tacos.
His method: he sautees chorizo with some onions, flavors with rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt (truth be told, our Supremo chorizo was so nicely seasoned, we did not do much else with it); then throw the stuff over the pile of washed spinach. Serve in tacos with some salsa, queso fresco and such. I made a quick salsa fresca with a few of my lingering tomatoes, a jalepeno, a tropea onion minced, lemon juice and some cilantro I've recently picked (another cold weather fan). Sliced radishes provided a nice crunch. See.
For some peppers, I did not get a chance to ask Rick, but I asked his sous chef. I was like, what the heck do I do with all these habeneros I still have. Freeze she said. I did. (Full list of frozen foods here.)
I got my money's worth from the Bayless demo at the Expo.
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Eat Local Thanksgiving and Other Upcoming Holidays
At the Family Farmed Expo panel on Thanksgiving, us locavores did not talk much about the upcoming holiday. Rather, we talked about living the local life generally, including how much Whole Foods could meet that need. There are options available still for a local Thanksgiving. See my latest Local Beet post.
At the Slow Foods booth at the Expo, they would not give me a copy of their holiday meat listing. They did not tell me it's online. It may not be of help for a Thanksgiving bird, but the sources can probably provide meat for Hanukkah and Christmas.
As I mentioned on the Beet, I will soon post some local holiday drinking tips.
At the Slow Foods booth at the Expo, they would not give me a copy of their holiday meat listing. They did not tell me it's online. It may not be of help for a Thanksgiving bird, but the sources can probably provide meat for Hanukkah and Christmas.
As I mentioned on the Beet, I will soon post some local holiday drinking tips.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Local Food Inventory
Subtraction by Subtraction
As I mentioned on the Local Beet, the VI family went through one of its periodic local food purges. Too much ambition, too much travel, too much working, too much love buying. It was worst than first reported; yesterday I found more crappy food: collards, a few too soft pears, the rest of the grapes. We've subtracted quite a bit from the inventory, but we always manage to buy. Here's where we stand today. (Last report here.)
Strawberries - Yes, local strawberries (indoor grown). I managed to squirrel away two pints from Robin at last week's winter market. These are not truly part of the inventory as they've all been eaten, some cooked into pancakes. Not the world's greatest strawberries but not as bad as supermarket either.
Fennel - I took half of Robin's strawberries but all of her fennel. On Sunday, I slow cooked the two heads for fennel marmalade, which has not been eaten. I've saved a bit of the stems/fronds for stock.
Salsify - The key find at the first winter market, five or so roots worth.
Bok choi - Last week's CSA contained one head; one head of bok choi is not the easiest thing to use
Celery - 4 bunches of heirloom from the first two Fall CSAs; these are mostly for stock and related. I have a batch of vegetable stock in me soon.
Brussels Sprouts - Enough to fill a newspaper bag x 3
Cucumbers - I think there's one somewhere in the fridge. Could be more purge material.
Arugula - 1 bags, but some of questionable quality. Stock!
Apples - Each week of the fall CSA has included apples, but those are mostly gone. In storage: 1/2 bushel of mutsu, a 1/2 bushel of mixed including northern spy, akane, winesap, courtland, granny smith and a few other varieties; 1/2 bushel of granny smith; 5 lbs of mixing baking (cortland and law rome); 5 lbs of mixed, empire/fuji; 8 large romes (for baked apples) + quart bags of raritan and empire; a quart from Seedlings I'm forgetting which type...
Pears - Five bosc pears and some Asian
Tomatoes - I hit the Green City Market two weeks ago, and a few of the tomatoes purchased are still alive and well. There's some in the attic but let's not talk about them today.
Red bell peppers - All of the last red peppers have been roasted. Some have been packed in oil; the rest in vinegar.
Green bell peppers - About 2 or 3
Jalepeno peppers - Tons (still)
Serrano peppers - Some
Cayenne peppers - 1 pint, but letting them dry
Other hot peppers - poblanos, habeneros, pasillas, etc. - tons - my babies
Beets - Most of my beets have been roasted and eaten or have gone to mold, but about six holding out.
Rutabagas - Maybe 6
Cabbage - 3 larger green; 1 whole red
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - We keep on getting turnips in our CSA boxes. I've steamed some. We also have some from long ago that might still be edible.
Radish - 1/2 beauty heart; some regular ol' radishes + 2 daikon
Celery root - About 8
Cauliflower - 1 head
Eggplants - The skinny had been around for weeks. I roasted them on Sunday, not the best of foods but passable. The several of the globe eggplants that I had plans for did not make it. The Nigerian eggplants, I bake tonight.
Lettuce - 2 bags
Carrots - lots
Garlic - More than enough as we got a braid of local garlic
Leeks - 6 bunches of 3
Dry onions - Plenty, including some Tropea and several pounds of cippolini.
Shallots - 5 or so lbs of larger and about 1 lb of smaller
Sweet potatoes - A good amount
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller + 1/2 bag of Yukon gold; when I did the move from basement to attic, I found more potatoes than I thought we had, cool + many heirloom (German butterball, fingerlings, etc.) + several pounds of yukon gold, kennebec, norland
Kohlrabi - 2 large; 2 medium; I thought I used the greens when I made the rest of our collards yesterday, but a check of the upstairs fridge finds them out and about.
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti; 8 delicata; 8 acorn, 4 Mexican style pumpkin, 4 butternut + 2 butternut that have already been souped, soup 1/2 drunk.
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, dill, marjoram, mint, cilantro
Parsley root - 5
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour; wheatberries
As I mentioned on the Local Beet, the VI family went through one of its periodic local food purges. Too much ambition, too much travel, too much working, too much love buying. It was worst than first reported; yesterday I found more crappy food: collards, a few too soft pears, the rest of the grapes. We've subtracted quite a bit from the inventory, but we always manage to buy. Here's where we stand today. (Last report here.)
Strawberries - Yes, local strawberries (indoor grown). I managed to squirrel away two pints from Robin at last week's winter market. These are not truly part of the inventory as they've all been eaten, some cooked into pancakes. Not the world's greatest strawberries but not as bad as supermarket either.
Fennel - I took half of Robin's strawberries but all of her fennel. On Sunday, I slow cooked the two heads for fennel marmalade, which has not been eaten. I've saved a bit of the stems/fronds for stock.
Salsify - The key find at the first winter market, five or so roots worth.
Bok choi - Last week's CSA contained one head; one head of bok choi is not the easiest thing to use
Celery - 4 bunches of heirloom from the first two Fall CSAs; these are mostly for stock and related. I have a batch of vegetable stock in me soon.
Brussels Sprouts - Enough to fill a newspaper bag x 3
Cucumbers - I think there's one somewhere in the fridge. Could be more purge material.
Arugula - 1 bags, but some of questionable quality. Stock!
Apples - Each week of the fall CSA has included apples, but those are mostly gone. In storage: 1/2 bushel of mutsu, a 1/2 bushel of mixed including northern spy, akane, winesap, courtland, granny smith and a few other varieties; 1/2 bushel of granny smith; 5 lbs of mixing baking (cortland and law rome); 5 lbs of mixed, empire/fuji; 8 large romes (for baked apples) + quart bags of raritan and empire; a quart from Seedlings I'm forgetting which type...
Pears - Five bosc pears and some Asian
Tomatoes - I hit the Green City Market two weeks ago, and a few of the tomatoes purchased are still alive and well. There's some in the attic but let's not talk about them today.
Red bell peppers - All of the last red peppers have been roasted. Some have been packed in oil; the rest in vinegar.
Green bell peppers - About 2 or 3
Jalepeno peppers - Tons (still)
Serrano peppers - Some
Cayenne peppers - 1 pint, but letting them dry
Other hot peppers - poblanos, habeneros, pasillas, etc. - tons - my babies
Beets - Most of my beets have been roasted and eaten or have gone to mold, but about six holding out.
Rutabagas - Maybe 6
Cabbage - 3 larger green; 1 whole red
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - We keep on getting turnips in our CSA boxes. I've steamed some. We also have some from long ago that might still be edible.
Radish - 1/2 beauty heart; some regular ol' radishes + 2 daikon
Celery root - About 8
Cauliflower - 1 head
Eggplants - The skinny had been around for weeks. I roasted them on Sunday, not the best of foods but passable. The several of the globe eggplants that I had plans for did not make it. The Nigerian eggplants, I bake tonight.
Lettuce - 2 bags
Carrots - lots
Garlic - More than enough as we got a braid of local garlic
Leeks - 6 bunches of 3
Dry onions - Plenty, including some Tropea and several pounds of cippolini.
Shallots - 5 or so lbs of larger and about 1 lb of smaller
Sweet potatoes - A good amount
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller + 1/2 bag of Yukon gold; when I did the move from basement to attic, I found more potatoes than I thought we had, cool + many heirloom (German butterball, fingerlings, etc.) + several pounds of yukon gold, kennebec, norland
Kohlrabi - 2 large; 2 medium; I thought I used the greens when I made the rest of our collards yesterday, but a check of the upstairs fridge finds them out and about.
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti; 8 delicata; 8 acorn, 4 Mexican style pumpkin, 4 butternut + 2 butternut that have already been souped, soup 1/2 drunk.
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, dill, marjoram, mint, cilantro
Parsley root - 5
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour; wheatberries
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Winter Markets Soon!
This weekend brings the Chicago area the first of two winter markets organized by my hard working friend Robin "Winter" and the team at the Churches Center for Land & People.
- Chicago / Beverly - Saturday November 8, 2008 - 9am to 1pm - - Church of the Holy Nativity - 9300 S. Pleasant Ave.. Chicago, IL 60643
- Elgin - Sunday November 9, 2008 - 1pm to 3pm - Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin
39W830 Highland Ave., Elgin, IL 60124
A wide variety of local foodstuffs should be available at these markets:
• Grass- & grain-fed beefThere is no reason local eating has to stop. By the way, I recommend that you sample the delicious brunch at the Beverly market, but also save room for two of my area favorites: Top Notch Beefburger and Cupid Candies.
• Pastured pork
• Free-range chicken
• Mushrooms
• Milled flour & cornmeal
• Goats' milk soap
• Natural tilapia
• Honey
• Basil & other herbs
• Swiss chard, lettuce, kale & other greens
• Onions, garlic & shallots
• Sweet basil vinaigrette
• Raw fibers, yarns & woolen goods
• Yogurt
• Potatoes
• Eggs
• Tomatoes & bell peppers
• Root vegetables
• Hot peppers
• Winter Squash
• Apples & cider
• Beauty & spa products
• Salsas, sauces & preserves
• Infused vinegars, herb blends & rubs
• Cheese & cheese curds
. . . and much more!
Monday, November 03, 2008
Eat Local Now and Forever
Inventory Update
When the Localbeet's new design is up and running, you can see how this local family has continued to build its inventory for now and the foreseeable future. We eat some, set much aside, and process other to make it last. Some of the processing makes it last a lot longer, some of the processing makes it last a bit longer. For instance, of the last red bell peppers arriving, some went into the freezer, others were roasted and oiled and still more were roasted and vinegar-ed. Half our giant stalk of Brussels sprouts was shredded, a Mado inspired dish to last a bit. Another Mado dish my wife loves to make is Delicata squash, roasted, which will also last a bit. The tomatillos in the fridge finally went into salsa, and then, some of our large stock of beets were roasted and marinated. The full accounting of what's been processed is here.
The inventory of raw foods is below. We won't be starving for a while, but I worry that its staying too warm for all of my keepers.
Bok choi - 2 large heads
Celery - 2 bunches of heirloom
Brussels Sprouts - Enough to fill a newspaper bag
Cucumbers - 2
Arugula - 3 bags
Apples - Cox orange pippen for immediate eating, then another six or so in the weekly CSA + 1/2 bushel of mutsu, a 1/2 bushel of mixed including northern spy, akane, winesap, courtland, granny smith and a few other varieties; 1/2 bushel of granny smith; 5 lbs of mixing baking (cortland and law rome); 5 lbs of mixed, empire/fuji; 8 large romes (for baked apples) + quart bags of raritan and empire.
Pears - About 15 lbs left including 8 new Asian pears from Oriana, the papple lady, (sold via Green Grocer Chicago)
Grapes - A big handbasket is mostly full of grapes in our downstairs fridge - Somewhat forgotten
Tomatoes - All of the red tomatoes have been eaten; the keeper tomatoes did not keep, but we have a bunch of green tomatoes to process or fry
Red bell peppers - About 8 or so medium peppers
Green bell peppers - About 4 or 5
Jalepeno peppers - Tons
Serrano peppers - Some
Cayenne peppers - 1 pint, but letting them dry
Other hot peppers - poblanos, habeneros, pasillas, etc. - tons
Beets - Maybe 24 smaller and 16 larger
Rutabagas - Maybe 6
Cabbage - 2 larger green; 1 whole red
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - 2 large white, 3 red "salad" turnips plus a dozen or so sitting around since last spring
Radish - 1 beauty heart; some French breakfast radishes, some regular ol' radishes + 2 daikon
Collard greens - 2 bunches
Celery root - About 8
Cauliflower - 1 head
Eggplants - 1 large, about 8 Nigerian red and 8 or so skinny
Lettuce - bag
Carrots - lots
Garlic - More than enough as we got a braid of local garlic
Leeks - 6 bunches of 3
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Dry onions - Six or so smaller red; two quarts red torpedo, about five Tropea, several pounds of cippolini; 22 lbs of yellow + more red torpedo
Shallots - 5 or so lbs
Sweet potatoes - A good amount
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller + 1/2 bag of Yukon gold; when I did the move from basement to attic, I found more potatoes than I thought we had, cool + many heirloom (German butterball, fingerlings, etc.) + several pounds of yukon gold, kennebec, norland
Kohlrabi - 2 large; 2 medium
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti; 8 delicata; 6 acorn, 4 Mexican style pumpkin, 4 butternut
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, thyme, mint, oregano, marjoram, dill
Parsley root - 5
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour
When the Localbeet's new design is up and running, you can see how this local family has continued to build its inventory for now and the foreseeable future. We eat some, set much aside, and process other to make it last. Some of the processing makes it last a lot longer, some of the processing makes it last a bit longer. For instance, of the last red bell peppers arriving, some went into the freezer, others were roasted and oiled and still more were roasted and vinegar-ed. Half our giant stalk of Brussels sprouts was shredded, a Mado inspired dish to last a bit. Another Mado dish my wife loves to make is Delicata squash, roasted, which will also last a bit. The tomatillos in the fridge finally went into salsa, and then, some of our large stock of beets were roasted and marinated. The full accounting of what's been processed is here.
The inventory of raw foods is below. We won't be starving for a while, but I worry that its staying too warm for all of my keepers.
Bok choi - 2 large heads
Celery - 2 bunches of heirloom
Brussels Sprouts - Enough to fill a newspaper bag
Cucumbers - 2
Arugula - 3 bags
Apples - Cox orange pippen for immediate eating, then another six or so in the weekly CSA + 1/2 bushel of mutsu, a 1/2 bushel of mixed including northern spy, akane, winesap, courtland, granny smith and a few other varieties; 1/2 bushel of granny smith; 5 lbs of mixing baking (cortland and law rome); 5 lbs of mixed, empire/fuji; 8 large romes (for baked apples) + quart bags of raritan and empire.
Pears - About 15 lbs left including 8 new Asian pears from Oriana, the papple lady, (sold via Green Grocer Chicago)
Grapes - A big handbasket is mostly full of grapes in our downstairs fridge - Somewhat forgotten
Tomatoes - All of the red tomatoes have been eaten; the keeper tomatoes did not keep, but we have a bunch of green tomatoes to process or fry
Red bell peppers - About 8 or so medium peppers
Green bell peppers - About 4 or 5
Jalepeno peppers - Tons
Serrano peppers - Some
Cayenne peppers - 1 pint, but letting them dry
Other hot peppers - poblanos, habeneros, pasillas, etc. - tons
Beets - Maybe 24 smaller and 16 larger
Rutabagas - Maybe 6
Cabbage - 2 larger green; 1 whole red
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - 2 large white, 3 red "salad" turnips plus a dozen or so sitting around since last spring
Radish - 1 beauty heart; some French breakfast radishes, some regular ol' radishes + 2 daikon
Collard greens - 2 bunches
Celery root - About 8
Cauliflower - 1 head
Eggplants - 1 large, about 8 Nigerian red and 8 or so skinny
Lettuce - bag
Carrots - lots
Garlic - More than enough as we got a braid of local garlic
Leeks - 6 bunches of 3
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Dry onions - Six or so smaller red; two quarts red torpedo, about five Tropea, several pounds of cippolini; 22 lbs of yellow + more red torpedo
Shallots - 5 or so lbs
Sweet potatoes - A good amount
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller + 1/2 bag of Yukon gold; when I did the move from basement to attic, I found more potatoes than I thought we had, cool + many heirloom (German butterball, fingerlings, etc.) + several pounds of yukon gold, kennebec, norland
Kohlrabi - 2 large; 2 medium
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti; 8 delicata; 6 acorn, 4 Mexican style pumpkin, 4 butternut
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, thyme, mint, oregano, marjoram, dill
Parsley root - 5
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour
Friday, October 31, 2008
Up Beet
For those looking for their Local Family update, the Local Beet is down for now and for maybe the next couple of days, as we roll out our updated design. I think you will be well impressed with the new look, so stay tuned at thelocalbeet.com.
I've already jotted down on the Beet, what I got at a last farmer's market yesterday (Eli's Cheesecake) as well as what came in the last summer CSA box. You should be able to see the notes as soon as the Beet is up again. I'll need those notes to update the inventory. It's a week behind.
I did update the preservation list after putting up some red peppers in the freezer this AM.
The Chicago area has at least two farmer's markets this weekend. Green City is not even thinking about closing yet, although it will be in its late fall location, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Bill Kim of the hot on the scene Urban Belly is doing a demo this Saturday. Evanston is also up and running for one last week. If I was not committed to the food pantry, I would really like to be here tomorrow.
Whether you want to make the run to Madison tomorrow or not, the Harmony Valley web site gives a very good indication of just how much stuff is still out there this time of year.
Last, don't fret if you cannot make these last markets, you got plenty of options.
I've already jotted down on the Beet, what I got at a last farmer's market yesterday (Eli's Cheesecake) as well as what came in the last summer CSA box. You should be able to see the notes as soon as the Beet is up again. I'll need those notes to update the inventory. It's a week behind.
I did update the preservation list after putting up some red peppers in the freezer this AM.
The Chicago area has at least two farmer's markets this weekend. Green City is not even thinking about closing yet, although it will be in its late fall location, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Bill Kim of the hot on the scene Urban Belly is doing a demo this Saturday. Evanston is also up and running for one last week. If I was not committed to the food pantry, I would really like to be here tomorrow.
Whether you want to make the run to Madison tomorrow or not, the Harmony Valley web site gives a very good indication of just how much stuff is still out there this time of year.
Last, don't fret if you cannot make these last markets, you got plenty of options.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Don't Stop Now
After dropping off several bags of product (and some yogurt) in our car, my wife and I returned for a second round of the final Oak Park Farmer's market of the season. I reminded my wife that at one time, the final weeks of the market consisted mostly of gourds and bales of hay (it seemed). Today, well there was so much food, it took us two good laps. Moreover, there were so many people, the line at Farmer Vicki's Genesis Grower's was out the door. With this much product, really, should the market shut down today?
There are certain reasons the market's gone into hibernation. Said Farmer Vicki's got a great guy that works for her, although he's one of the few non-gregarious farmers I know. He did reveal much, however, in his laughing reaction to my comment today to him, "glad to be done." Farming and especially market farming, and even more especially organic/sustainable farming like Genesis Growers is incredibly difficult work. The hours on the field are many. Then vending requires very early rising and very full days. I can see why these guys are ready to get some good rest. For some, inventory is dwindling. One of the Michigan fruit guys said that with the two downtown markets they will be at next week, they will have effectively sold all of their crops for the year. One of the Oak Park vendors was plum our of potatoes, to my chagrin as I had planned on buying. At another vendor, all of the tomatoes left were green. Things could be wrapping up.
Or should they? I am bothered by two things. First, I want the pro's to store the crops. Probably 2/3rds of the stuff for sale today could be for sale in a few months, the beets and celery root and parsnips and squash and onions and potatoes and most of the apples, and a few of the pears. These things would last so much better in good cold, conditions, with the proper humidity, moist for most, dry for some, conditions hard to replicate in a suburban home and even harder in an apartment. Kept well, they could be divvied out to aspiring locavores for a good period. Second, there can be robust late season farming. At the Thursday Eli's Cheesecake Factory market, Chad Nichol's was marveling at all of the cold weather crops. Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach all come out better after some frost. Beets and carrots and parsnips can stick around until the hardest frosts, and even those frosts can be put at bay with a bit of tech. A bit more tech, of course, allows for winter farming of lettuces, herbs, arugula and other items.
I've said this before, but the opportunities are wide in this area. There are farmers in the Northeast who do not begin their season until now. Snug Haven Farm in Wisconsin also operates on this schedule. There should be guys who pick up the slack when the hard working market farmer's take a snooze. There are outlets for winter produce. Robin's got her markets, Cassie's got her Green Grocer and Irv and Shelly have their delivery service. Plus, there's the Vie's and Mado's and Lula's serving market driven menu's. Cannot someone jump into this demand?
There is really no reason that the markets need to wrap up now...except for the farmer's who need a well deserved rest.
There are certain reasons the market's gone into hibernation. Said Farmer Vicki's got a great guy that works for her, although he's one of the few non-gregarious farmers I know. He did reveal much, however, in his laughing reaction to my comment today to him, "glad to be done." Farming and especially market farming, and even more especially organic/sustainable farming like Genesis Growers is incredibly difficult work. The hours on the field are many. Then vending requires very early rising and very full days. I can see why these guys are ready to get some good rest. For some, inventory is dwindling. One of the Michigan fruit guys said that with the two downtown markets they will be at next week, they will have effectively sold all of their crops for the year. One of the Oak Park vendors was plum our of potatoes, to my chagrin as I had planned on buying. At another vendor, all of the tomatoes left were green. Things could be wrapping up.
Or should they? I am bothered by two things. First, I want the pro's to store the crops. Probably 2/3rds of the stuff for sale today could be for sale in a few months, the beets and celery root and parsnips and squash and onions and potatoes and most of the apples, and a few of the pears. These things would last so much better in good cold, conditions, with the proper humidity, moist for most, dry for some, conditions hard to replicate in a suburban home and even harder in an apartment. Kept well, they could be divvied out to aspiring locavores for a good period. Second, there can be robust late season farming. At the Thursday Eli's Cheesecake Factory market, Chad Nichol's was marveling at all of the cold weather crops. Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach all come out better after some frost. Beets and carrots and parsnips can stick around until the hardest frosts, and even those frosts can be put at bay with a bit of tech. A bit more tech, of course, allows for winter farming of lettuces, herbs, arugula and other items.
I've said this before, but the opportunities are wide in this area. There are farmers in the Northeast who do not begin their season until now. Snug Haven Farm in Wisconsin also operates on this schedule. There should be guys who pick up the slack when the hard working market farmer's take a snooze. There are outlets for winter produce. Robin's got her markets, Cassie's got her Green Grocer and Irv and Shelly have their delivery service. Plus, there's the Vie's and Mado's and Lula's serving market driven menu's. Cannot someone jump into this demand?
There is really no reason that the markets need to wrap up now...except for the farmer's who need a well deserved rest.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Looking Ahead
On thelocalbeet.com, I listed all of the good local food recently gotten, both via CSA and through deals offered at the markets. I'll update the inventory here soon. For now, I want to remind you, firstly do hit the markets this weekend. Most Chicago area markets will close shop after this weekend. As I have reported, now is the time to wheel and deal. Then, after your area markets have closed, get ready to hit the winter markets organized by my friend Robin and Tony of Scotch Hill Organic Farm. They have a full schedule planned from November through March. Robin wants me to remind you, to ask ask your favorite growers if they’ll be participating in markets. The first winter market will be on November 8, a Saturday, 9 - 1, at the Church of the Holy Nativity, 9300 S. Pleasant St., Chicago. The following day, Sunday, there's a market at Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin, 39W830 Highland Ave, Elgin. The latest schedule of markets can be found here.
In addition to Robin and Tony's markets, Geneva will be throwing up a winter market again at the Inglenook, 11 North State. This year the markets will be on Saturday's instead of Thursdays--here's a report from last year. I cannot speak to the contents of the market yet, but I will say that any trip to the Inglenook is worth it for the cheese selections of Curds and Whey.
Chicago's Green City Market will be around for several more weeks, going indoors in November, but meeting mostly twice a week. I am not sure where stand, rumblings of market hours in the other winter months. News on Green City's hours as well as other continuing markets, can be found on the Illinois Department of Agriculture's Agrihappening's site.
Don't let anyone tell you, you cannot continue to eat local in the Chicago area after October.
In addition to Robin and Tony's markets, Geneva will be throwing up a winter market again at the Inglenook, 11 North State. This year the markets will be on Saturday's instead of Thursdays--here's a report from last year. I cannot speak to the contents of the market yet, but I will say that any trip to the Inglenook is worth it for the cheese selections of Curds and Whey.
Chicago's Green City Market will be around for several more weeks, going indoors in November, but meeting mostly twice a week. I am not sure where stand, rumblings of market hours in the other winter months. News on Green City's hours as well as other continuing markets, can be found on the Illinois Department of Agriculture's Agrihappening's site.
Don't let anyone tell you, you cannot continue to eat local in the Chicago area after October.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Inventory Storage Options
Another week of CSA, the Saturday Oak Park Farmer's Market. We are loading the Bungalow with food. We make full use of the Bungalow and its fixtures to deal with this food. We have our basement "canning room", a room far from the furnace and close to the outside. Up until about September, this is the coolest spot in the house, so all onions, squash and potatoes went there. Generally, it is un-wise to store potatoes and onions together, something about competing gases (maybe). Also, potatoes need more cold. With the turn to colder around here, we go to our attic. This is the coolest part of the house. Today, I moved the potatoes in the basement up to there. The onions we bought today (and we bought a lot), went to the basement. We had already placed our apples in the attic, and the 1/2 bushel I bought today, that went there as well. Finally, we have an extra fridge. That is used for the least giving products. For one thing, it has more summery things not yet eaten or still arriving, like some eggplants and some collard greens. For another thing, it has product that will last but really needs more cold: pears, grapes, cabbage, roots. When it gets even colder, I can trust some roots to the attic, but right now we have not stocked up much in roots anyway.
The newest inventory is below, updated from here--note from there may be some discrepancies in the lists due to my imperfect re-call.
Raspberries - 2 quarts
Apples - Our weekly CSA includes about 6 apples, those get eaten during the week. In storage we have 1/2 bushel of mutsu, a 1/2 bushel of mixed including northern spy, akane, winesap, courtland, granny smith and a few other varieties. In addition to these, we have quart bags of raritan and empire.
Pears - Last year, the Chicago area had a very limited pear crop. We are making up for that this year. Well, it is not so much that it's a bumper crop; it's that we are making a big effort to have pears so that our winter fruit is not so apple-y. We have about 20 lbs right now of various pears, including Asian style pears (papples) in our two fridges. Besides school lunches and other out-of-hand eating, pears make for a good salad course too.
Grapes - A big handbasket is mostly full of grapes in our downstairs fridge, the latest CSA came with 2 quarts, but then one daughter who refuses to fess up, dropped it all over the basement floor.
Watermelon - There is some watermelon left, but after serving my kidz melon in their lunches for days, I let them have a melon-atorium. Now, I wonder if it's not spoiled. Nonetheless, it counts in the inventory for now.
Tomatoes - Still finding tomatoes to buy, so we got a few pints of cherry tomatoes and another seven heirloom tomatoes. The 20 keeper tomatoes have been wrapped in newspaper and set aside in the attic.
Red bell peppers - About 8
6 Green bell peppers - 7 a few tiny speciality peppers (e.g., chocolate) that taste like green peppers
Jalepeno peppers - About 8
Serrano peppers - 4 or so
Cayenne peppers - 1 pint, but letting them dry
Beets - Maybe 24 smaller and 16 larger
Cabbage - 1 larger green; 1/2 of a red; 1 whole red
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - 2 large white, 3 red "salad" turnips plus a dozen or so sitting around since last spring
Turnip greens - The greens attached to the 2 white turnips
Bekana - One of Farmer Vicki's Asian greens, looks a bit like a long head of romaine; we have two heads
Radish - 1 beauty heart; 1 bunch of French breakfast radishes
Collard greens - 6 bunches
Celery root - 1 large
Cauliflower - 1/2
Eggplants - 2 large
Tomatillos - 12
Lettuce - 1/4th of a bag + 1/2 head of romaine
Carrots - lots
Garlic - Some
Green beans - About 1/2 a Sunday newspaper bag's worth
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Dry onions - Six or so smaller red; two quarts red torpedo, about five Tropea, several pounds of cippolini; 22 lbs of yellow
Sweet potatoes - 11 (lost one to spoilage)
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller + 1/2 bag of Yukon gold; when I did the move from basement to attic, I found more potatoes than I thought we had. Cool!
Kohlrabi - 2 large; 2 medium
Fennel - 3 stalks
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti; 6 delicata; 2 acorn
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, thyme, mint, oregano, marjoram
Parsley root - 2
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour
The newest inventory is below, updated from here--note from there may be some discrepancies in the lists due to my imperfect re-call.
Raspberries - 2 quarts
Apples - Our weekly CSA includes about 6 apples, those get eaten during the week. In storage we have 1/2 bushel of mutsu, a 1/2 bushel of mixed including northern spy, akane, winesap, courtland, granny smith and a few other varieties. In addition to these, we have quart bags of raritan and empire.
Pears - Last year, the Chicago area had a very limited pear crop. We are making up for that this year. Well, it is not so much that it's a bumper crop; it's that we are making a big effort to have pears so that our winter fruit is not so apple-y. We have about 20 lbs right now of various pears, including Asian style pears (papples) in our two fridges. Besides school lunches and other out-of-hand eating, pears make for a good salad course too.
Grapes - A big handbasket is mostly full of grapes in our downstairs fridge, the latest CSA came with 2 quarts, but then one daughter who refuses to fess up, dropped it all over the basement floor.
Watermelon - There is some watermelon left, but after serving my kidz melon in their lunches for days, I let them have a melon-atorium. Now, I wonder if it's not spoiled. Nonetheless, it counts in the inventory for now.
Tomatoes - Still finding tomatoes to buy, so we got a few pints of cherry tomatoes and another seven heirloom tomatoes. The 20 keeper tomatoes have been wrapped in newspaper and set aside in the attic.
Red bell peppers - About 8
6 Green bell peppers - 7 a few tiny speciality peppers (e.g., chocolate) that taste like green peppers
Jalepeno peppers - About 8
Serrano peppers - 4 or so
Cayenne peppers - 1 pint, but letting them dry
Beets - Maybe 24 smaller and 16 larger
Cabbage - 1 larger green; 1/2 of a red; 1 whole red
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - 2 large white, 3 red "salad" turnips plus a dozen or so sitting around since last spring
Turnip greens - The greens attached to the 2 white turnips
Bekana - One of Farmer Vicki's Asian greens, looks a bit like a long head of romaine; we have two heads
Radish - 1 beauty heart; 1 bunch of French breakfast radishes
Collard greens - 6 bunches
Celery root - 1 large
Cauliflower - 1/2
Eggplants - 2 large
Tomatillos - 12
Lettuce - 1/4th of a bag + 1/2 head of romaine
Carrots - lots
Garlic - Some
Green beans - About 1/2 a Sunday newspaper bag's worth
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Dry onions - Six or so smaller red; two quarts red torpedo, about five Tropea, several pounds of cippolini; 22 lbs of yellow
Sweet potatoes - 11 (lost one to spoilage)
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller + 1/2 bag of Yukon gold; when I did the move from basement to attic, I found more potatoes than I thought we had. Cool!
Kohlrabi - 2 large; 2 medium
Fennel - 3 stalks
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti; 6 delicata; 2 acorn
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, thyme, mint, oregano, marjoram
Parsley root - 2
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Eat Local Strawberries - Now!
The by product of eating locally is eating seasonally. Us locavores will not partake in the ample asparagus or strawberry supplies found around town. Nor would we think of eating a sugar snap about now. Would we?
We would. Well, certainly not the asparagus, but what if there were local strawberries, local snow peas. Now. What if there was someone in Northern Illinois who planted fall crops of these things. Would you eat? Well you can. There's a fella, Bob, he has, it's not a u-pick, rather it's one of those u-pay things (unless he's around). In a room on his property you can find an array of produce he grows, with prices, a scale, and a money box. Be honest!
Here's what he has now:
We would. Well, certainly not the asparagus, but what if there were local strawberries, local snow peas. Now. What if there was someone in Northern Illinois who planted fall crops of these things. Would you eat? Well you can. There's a fella, Bob, he has, it's not a u-pick, rather it's one of those u-pay things (unless he's around). In a room on his property you can find an array of produce he grows, with prices, a scale, and a money box. Be honest!
Here's what he has now:
Red Raspberries Fall weather is their favorite. They are really producing full force now and will continue to do so until the first hard frost (28 degrees or lower).He's not too far from the Southern reaches of Chicago. He encourages you to call him (815)428-7382 or cell (815)471-7383 to see what he has, and also to give you good directions. I'd add that when you are driving around this section of Eastern Illinois, you might find a few other farmers with stuff for sale in their front yards. It might not be as unseasonable as Bob's stuff, but it will still be good.
Strawberries They too like this weather. Likewise they are full of blooms making new berries and will produce abundantly until that hard frost.
Green Beans Beans should be available until the first frost.
Red Potatoes Plenty on hand.
Sweet Potatoes We just started digging and will have an abundant supply.
Tomatoes Plenty available but only until any kind of frost.
Bell Peppers Like tomatoes, any kind of frost will kill these plants. Don’t expect any after frost.
Honey We have an abundant supply obtained from a local bee keeper from whom we rent the hives for pollination purposes. We then buy honey from him for re-sale. We are receiving excellent feed-back from customers regarding this honey.
Egg Plant Plenty available until frost.
Beets Only a very limited supply is left in the field.
Okra We have plenty of okra. Because we want okra when it is still rather small, it is picked 3 times per week.
Snow Peas We planted for a fall crop and it too enjoys the fall weather. Plenty of snow peas available.
Apples There are plenty of Red Delicious apples in storage; however, the supply of Granny Smiths is limited. All other varieties are sold out.
Pumpkins We only have pumpkins available upon advanced notice as we do not grow pumpkins, but they are available from a fellow grower.
Watermelons Like pumpkins, we are obtaining melons from a fellow grower as our supply is exhausted.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Inventory Update
No sooner have I reported on our inventory, than I realize I forgot things. On top of that, we went and bought local food yesterday at Caputo's. The tally below includes kohlrabi gotten long ago and peppers gotten just yesterday.
Monday, October 06, 2008
The Return of Inventory
Updated 10/7/08 and 10/14/08
From December 2007 until May of 2008, I tracked how our eat local attempts were working by tracking the local food we had in the Bungalow. Starting in May, when eating local was more about what we purchased each week instead of what we had laying around each week, I took to chronicling our weekly acquisitions. Since the launch of the Local Beet, I have been reporting on the latest purchases there--an update should be online tomorrow, until then, here's the last tally. This is a transition period for the locavore. The supplies of local food remain high enough to support weekly eating, but the time is also now to put-away. We have started buying food for storage. Also, my wife did a bit of cleaning up today, so we got a better handle on some of the vegetables that remain from earlier. Thus, it is a good time to re-report the inventory. Note, we have been canning, drying and freezing and otherwise looking ahead all the time. These preserved foods play a role in our off-season eating, but will not be separately reported on in the inventory.
Apples - We have about 15 or so lbs or apples, several varieties - 10/14: added 1/2 bushel of mutsu
Pears - About 5 lbs of Bosc pears; then another 13 lbs - 10/14: added 4 lbs of Asian pears
Grapes - 2 quarts of Concord grapes - 10/14: added two quarts from CSA
Watermelon - 4/5th of a medium sized melon - now down to 1/5th
Nectarines - 4 (from 8)
Tomatoes - Some cherry tomatoes, about 8 heirloom tomatoes; about 20 keeper tomatoes already wrapped in newspaper and set aside. - Cherry and heirloom eaten and replaced with same.
Red bell peppers - About 8 + a few marinated - 10/14: added 6
Green bell peppers - 4
Jalepeno peppers - 5 - Update: miscounted, have about 12
Serrano peppers - 8 or so
Wonder beans - 1 quart - eaten
Beets - Maybe 24 smaller and 10 larger 10/14: added 6 or so large beets
Cabbage - 1 small green, 1 larger green; 2/3rds of a red - used some of the red, but a lot remains
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - 3 red "salad" turnips plus a dozen or so sitting around since last spring
Radish - 1/2 daikon, 2 beauty heart 10/14: 1 bunch of French breakfast radishes
Collard greens - 4 bunches 10/14: + 1
Celery root - 1 large
Cauliflower - 2 large
Eggplants - 2 large - used - 10/14: 8 thin
Tomatillos - 12
Zucchini - 12 small - used 6
Baby lettuce - 3/4th of a bag
Agugula - 1/2 bag + 1 head - used - 10/14: new bag
Carrots - lots
Garlic - Some
Green beans - 2 quarts
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Dry onions - Maybe 12 each, red and yellow
Sweet potatoes - 6 - 10/14: 6 more
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller 10/14: bag of WI Yukon gold, some already used
Kohlrabi - 2 large - 10/14: 2 medium
Hot banana peppers - 8 or so - roasted and marinated, some eaten
Fennel - 3 stalks
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti, 6 delicata
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, thyme, mint, basil
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour
From December 2007 until May of 2008, I tracked how our eat local attempts were working by tracking the local food we had in the Bungalow. Starting in May, when eating local was more about what we purchased each week instead of what we had laying around each week, I took to chronicling our weekly acquisitions. Since the launch of the Local Beet, I have been reporting on the latest purchases there--an update should be online tomorrow, until then, here's the last tally. This is a transition period for the locavore. The supplies of local food remain high enough to support weekly eating, but the time is also now to put-away. We have started buying food for storage. Also, my wife did a bit of cleaning up today, so we got a better handle on some of the vegetables that remain from earlier. Thus, it is a good time to re-report the inventory. Note, we have been canning, drying and freezing and otherwise looking ahead all the time. These preserved foods play a role in our off-season eating, but will not be separately reported on in the inventory.
Apples - We have about 15 or so lbs or apples, several varieties - 10/14: added 1/2 bushel of mutsu
Pears - About 5 lbs of Bosc pears; then another 13 lbs - 10/14: added 4 lbs of Asian pears
Grapes - 2 quarts of Concord grapes - 10/14: added two quarts from CSA
Watermelon - 4/5th of a medium sized melon - now down to 1/5th
Nectarines - 4 (from 8)
Tomatoes - Some cherry tomatoes, about 8 heirloom tomatoes; about 20 keeper tomatoes already wrapped in newspaper and set aside. - Cherry and heirloom eaten and replaced with same.
Red bell peppers - About 8 + a few marinated - 10/14: added 6
Green bell peppers - 4
Jalepeno peppers - 5 - Update: miscounted, have about 12
Serrano peppers - 8 or so
Wonder beans - 1 quart - eaten
Beets - Maybe 24 smaller and 10 larger 10/14: added 6 or so large beets
Cabbage - 1 small green, 1 larger green; 2/3rds of a red - used some of the red, but a lot remains
Garlic scapes - forgotten but amazingly holding up, will make a strange taste of Spring in Fall
Turnips - 3 red "salad" turnips plus a dozen or so sitting around since last spring
Radish - 1/2 daikon, 2 beauty heart 10/14: 1 bunch of French breakfast radishes
Collard greens - 4 bunches 10/14: + 1
Celery root - 1 large
Cauliflower - 2 large
Eggplants - 2 large - used - 10/14: 8 thin
Tomatillos - 12
Zucchini - 12 small - used 6
Baby lettuce - 3/4th of a bag
Agugula - 1/2 bag + 1 head - used - 10/14: new bag
Carrots - lots
Garlic - Some
Green beans - 2 quarts
Dry beans including yellow-eye, Great Northern and red kidney - A good amount
Dry onions - Maybe 12 each, red and yellow
Sweet potatoes - 6 - 10/14: 6 more
Potatoes - 25 or so smaller 10/14: bag of WI Yukon gold, some already used
Kohlrabi - 2 large - 10/14: 2 medium
Hot banana peppers - 8 or so - roasted and marinated, some eaten
Fennel - 3 stalks
Winter squash - 1 large-ish spaghetti, 6 delicata
Herbs - rosemary, parsley, thyme, mint, basil
Grains - Michigan grown and ground pastry flour; Illinois grown and ground corn meal; Illinois grown and milled all purpose flour
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